The mayor of Timisoara warned the city is on the verge of a new lockdown after cases soared to higher than anywhere else in the country leaving hospitals struggling to cope with new Covid-19 admissions.
Mayor Dominic Fritz said on Wednesday that there were no more available hospitals beds in intensive care units and urged residents to comply with current restrictions to limit the spread of the virus.
“If we don’t take care now we will have a new wave which will force us to close the economy,” he said a t a news conference.” I say to owners of restaurants, gyms: Please respect the limits that have been imposed by the pandemic.”
The county of Timis reported 415 new cases on Wednesday, the second-highest number of fresh cases after Bucharest.
Timisoara, the largest city in western Europe, had a 7.22 cases per 1,000 people, more than anywhere else in Romania. The county had 5.24 cases per 1,000 residents on Wednesday, which was much higher than the Cluj county in second place with 3.42 cases per 1,000
In past weeks, the mayor has also suggested that high testing levels account for the large number of cases.
Mr Fritz said a lockdown would likely affect the whole county and not just the city of 310,000.
„I don’t think a lockdown for Timisoara is feasible…. Unless it is applied to the whole of Timis county, with strict control,” he said.
